Countries by Area

Countries by Area (World General Knowledge)

The independent country is not only self-governed nation with own authorities, this status needs the international diplomatic recognition of sovereignty. Thereby, we can say, that the total number of independent states in the world are 197, including fully recognized 193 members of the United Nations, 2 countries, Vatican City and Palestine, have the status of permanent observers in the UN. Another 2 states we include are Kosovo (recognized by 111 UN members) and Taiwan (recognized by 22 countries).

Vatican City

Vatican City State was founded following the signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy on February 11th 1929.

These were ratified on June 7th 1929. Its nature as a sovereign State distinct from the Holy See is universally recognized under international law.

Palestine

The State of Palestine is recognized by 136 UN members and since 2012 has a status of a non-member observer state in the United Nations – which amounts to a de facto, or implicit, recognition of statehood. It is a member of the Arab League, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, G77, and the International Olympic Committee.

Kosovo

On 17 February 2008, Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia. It has since gained diplomatic recognition as a sovereign state by 111 UN member states. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo as a state, although with the Brussels Agreement of 2013, it has accepted the legitimacy of its institutions. Kosovo has a lower-middle-income economy and has experienced solid economic growth over the last decade by international financial institutions, and has experienced growth every year since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.

Check Also: World General Knowledge MCQs

Taiwan

China has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the Republic of China (Taiwan) is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC. Today 20 countries recognize the ROC as the sole legal representative of China, but many other states maintain unofficial ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. Although Taiwan is fully self-governing, most international organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only as a non-state actor.

Rank	Sovereign State	Total in km²	Notes
–	World	510,072,000
1.	Russia	17,098,246	Largest country in the world (10.995% of the world’s landmass); its Asian portion makes it the largest country in Asia, and its European portion of roughly 3,960,000 km² (1,530,000 sq mi) makes it the largest country in Europe Countries by Area.
–	Antarctica	14,000,000	13,720,000 km² (5,300,000 sq mi) (98%) of land area is covered by ice. Though not itself a country, areas are claimed by a number of countries Countries by Area.
2.	Canada	9,984,670	Largest country in the Western Hemisphere, with the largest surface area of water. Total area and water area figures include area covered by freshwater only, and do not include internal waters (non-freshwater) of about 1,600,000 km², or territorial waters of 200,000 km²
3.	United States	9,525,067	Second largest country in the Americas, after Canada. Countries by Area Secondary figures for total area and water area denote the inclusion of all coastal and territorial waters into the statistical area.
4.	China	9,640,011	Second largest country in Asia, after Russia. Excludes Taiwan (total 36,193 km²). Figures for total area and water area also exclude all coastal and territorial waters
5.	Brazil	8,515,767	The largest country in South America and in the Southern Hemisphere. Largest contiguous territory in the Americas.
6.	Australia	7,692,024	The largest country in Oceania, the largest country without land borders, and the largest country completely in the Southern Hemisphere.
7.	India	3,287,263	Third largest country in Asia.
8.	Argentina	2,780,400	The largest Spanish-speaking country and second largest country in South America.
9.	Kazakhstan	2,724,900	Largest landlocked country.
10.	Algeria	2,381,741	The largest Arabic-speaking country and largest country in Africa.
11.	Democratic Republic of the Congo	2,344,858	Largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa and the largest officially Francophone country. 2nd largest country in Africa.
12.	Saudi Arabia	2,149,690	Largest country in the Middle East.
13.	Mexico	1,964,375	Clipperton Island (8.9 km², controlled by France) is not included.
14.	Indonesia	1,910,931	The largest archipelagic state and island state in the world by area and population.
15.	Sudan	1,861,484	Formerly the largest country in Africa. It is now the 3rd largest country in Africa.
16.	Libya	1,759,540
17.	Iran	1,648,195
18.	Mongolia	1,564,110
19.	Peru	1,285,216
20.	Chad	1,284,000
21.	Niger	1,267,000
22.	Angola	1,246,700
23.	Mali	1,240,192
24.	South Africa	1,221,037
25.	Colombia	1,141,748
26.	Ethiopia	1,104,300
27.	Bolivia	1,098,581
28.	Mauritania	1,030,700
29.	Egypt	1,002,450
30.	Tanzania	945,087
31.	Nigeria	923,768
32.	Venezuela	916,445
33.	Pakistan	881,912	Also known as Islamic Republic Of Pakistan.
34.	Namibia	825,615
35.	Mozambique	801,590
36.	Turkey	783,562
37.	Chile	756,102
38.	Zambia	752,612
39.	Myanmar	676,578	Also known as Burma.
40.	Afghanistan	652,230
41.	South Sudan	644,329
42.	France	640,679	Figures include metropolitan France (in Europe) as well as the five overseas regions. This does not include New Caledonia (an autonomous sui generis collectivity), the five autonomous overseas collectivities, and the two uninhabited territories (the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and Clipperton Island) which are listed individually, although also part of the French Republic.
43.	Somalia	637,657
44.	Central African Republic	622,984
45.	Ukraine	603,500	Largest country wholly in Europe.
46.	Madagascar	587,041
47.	Botswana	581,730
48.	Kenya	580,367
49.	Yemen	527,968
50.	Thailand	513,120
51.	Spain	505,992
52.	Turkmenistan	488,100
53.	Cameroon	475,442
54.	Papua New Guinea	462,840
55.	Sweden	450,295
56.	Uzbekistan	447,400
57.	Morocco	446,550
58.	Iraq	438,317
59.	Paraguay	406,752
60.	Zimbabwe	390,757
61.	Japan	377,930
62.	Germany	357,114	Before the 1990 German reunification, West Germany 248,577 (95,976) and East Germany 108,333 (41,828)
63.	Republic of the Congo	342,000
64.	Finland	338,424
65.	Vietnam	331,212
66.	Malaysia	330,803
67.	Norway	323,802
68.	Ivory Coast	322,463
69.	Poland	312,679
70.	Oman	309,500
71.	Italy	301,336
72.	Philippines	300,000
73.	Ecuador	276,841
74.	Burkina Faso	274,222
75.	New Zealand	270,467
76.	Gabon	267,668
–	Western Sahara	266,000	Disputed territory.
77.	Guinea	245,857
78.	United Kingdom	242,495
79.	Uganda	241,550
80.	Ghana	238,533
81.	Romania	238,397
82.	Laos	236,800
83.	Guyana	214,969
84.	Belarus	207,600
85.	Kyrgyzstan	199,951
86.	Senegal	196,722
87.	Syria	185,180
88.	Cambodia	181,035
89.	Uruguay	176,215
90.	Suriname	163,820	Smallest country in South America.
91.	Tunisia	163,610
92.	Bangladesh	147,570
93.	Nepal	147,181	Largest country in the Himalayan range
94.	Tajikistan	143,100
95.	Greece	131,990
96.	Nicaragua	130,373	Largest country in Central America.
97.	North Korea	120,540
98.	Malawi	118,484
99.	Eritrea	117,600
100.	Benin	114,763
101.	Honduras	112,492
102.	Liberia	111,369
103.	Bulgaria	110,879
104.	Cuba	109,884	Largest country in Caribbean
105.	Guatemala	108,889
106.	Iceland	103,000
107.	South Korea	100,210
108.	Hungary	93,028
109.	Portugal	92,090
110.	Jordan	89,342
111.	Serbia	88,361
112.	Azerbaijan	86,600	Largest country in Caucasus
113.	Austria	83,871
114.	United Arab Emirates	83,600
115.	Czech Republic	78,865
116.	Panama	75,417
117.	Sierra Leone	71,740
118.	Ireland	70,273
119.	Georgia	69,700
120.	Sri Lanka	65,610
121.	Lithuania	65,300
122.	Latvia	64,559
123.	Togo	56,785
124.	Croatia	56,594
125.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	51,209
126.	Costa Rica	51,100
127.	Slovakia	49,037
128.	Dominican Republic	48,671
129.	Estonia	45,227
130.	Denmark	43,094)	Metropolitan Denmark only, without Greenland and the Faroe Islands.
131.	Netherlands	41,850	Includes the special municipalities, but excludes other countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, shown separately.
132.	Switzerland	41,284
133.	Bhutan	38,394
–	Taiwan	36,193	Before the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, the Republic of China included Mainland China, Mongolia, Taiwan and other areas, totaling 11,418,174 km² (4,408,582 sq mi
134.	Guinea-Bissau	36,125
135.	Moldova	33,846
136.	Belgium	30,528
137.	Lesotho	30,355
138.	Armenia	29,743
139.	Solomon Islands	28,896
140.	Albania	28,748
141.	Equatorial Guinea	28,051
142.	Burundi	27,834
143.	Haiti	27,750
144.	Rwanda	26,338
145.	Macedonia	25,713
146.	Djibouti	23,200
147.	Belize	22,966
148.	El Salvador	21,041	Smallest country in continental North America.
149.	Israel	28,292
150.	Slovenia	20,273
151.	Fiji	18,272
152.	Kuwait	17,818
153.	Swaziland	17,364
154.	East Timor	14,874
155.	Bahamas	13,943
156.	Montenegro	13,812
157.	Vanuatu	12,189
158.	Qatar	11,586
159.	The Gambia	11,295	Smallest country in continental Africa.
160.	Jamaica	10,991
–	Kosovo	10,887
161.	Lebanon	10,452	Smallest country in continental Asia.
162.	Cyprus	9,251
163.	Palestine	6,020
164.	Brunei	5,765
165.	Trinidad and Tobago	5,130
166.	Cape Verde	4,033
–	Northern Cyprus	3,355
167.	Samoa	2,842
–	Hong Kong (China)	2,755
168.	Luxembourg	2,586
169.	Mauritius	2,040
170.	Comoros	1,862
172.	Kiribati	811
173.	Bahrain	765
174.	Dominica	751
175.	Tonga	747
176.	Singapore	719
177.	Federated States of Micronesia	702
178.	Saint Lucia	616
179.	Andorra	468
180.	Palau	459
181.	Seychelles	452	Smallest country in Africa.
182.	Antigua and Barbuda	442
183.	Barbados	430
184.	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	389
185.	Grenada	344
186.	Malta	316
187.	Maldives	300	Smallest country in Asia.
188.	Saint Kitts and Nevis	261	Smallest country in the Americas and the Western Hemisphere.
189.	Marshall Islands	181
–	Aruba (Netherlands)	180
190.	Liechtenstein	160
191.	San Marino	61
192.	Tuvalu	26	Smallest Commonwealth realm.
193.	Nauru	21	Smallest island country, smallest republic and smallest country that isn’t a city-state.
194.	Monaco	2.02	Smallest country with a coastline.
195.	Vatican City	0.44	Smallest country in the world.